Scott Quigg Joins Matchroom Sport, Next Fight 6/29

British boxing’s surreal game of promotional musical chairs continued today with Scott Quigg’s move from Hatton Promotions to Matchroom Sport.

The news was revealed during a press conference in Manchester, where it was also announced that Quigg will feature in a ten rounder on their June 29 bill at the Bolton Arena.

Quigg, 25-0 (18), takes up the spot on the Matchroom books that was left vacant by former Matchroom fighter Carl Frampton, who left to join Frank Warren's stable last week. The moves mean that a showdown between the two Super bantamweights is unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Hatton Promotions guided Quigg into a solid position — he is the WBA’s interim titlist and won the British belt with them — yet he has not fought since beating domestic rival Rendall Munroe via a sixth-round stoppage last November. Furthermore, Hatton’s lack of a TV deal has made it hard for the former fighter to put on regular shows, although they still managed to secure its middleweight Martin Murray a shot at world champion Sergio Martinez earlier this year.

Quigg's move comes in time to appear on the undercard of Gavin Rees versus Anthony Crolla at the Bolton Arena on June 29. The appearance serves as a placeholder for an eventual showdown with #2 ranked contender Yoandris Salinas for the vacant ‘World’ title. Guillermo Rigondeaux is the WBA’s Super World title-holder and the organisation has ordered a meeting between Quigg and Salinas to crown a ‘regular’ world titlist.

Hearn will hope to move quickly to further his new charge’s progression, especially as he had previously stated that the Bury-based boxer was a step or two behind Frampton.

“I have made four offers over the past fortnight to Scott Quigg's people and they were big six-figure sums and he has turned every one of them down, so that only tells me one thing, that either he or his team don't want the fight,” said Hearn when speaking to David Kelly of Sunday Life about Quigg versus Frampton back in December.

"I think it is more to do with his team. They clearly don't believe Quigg wins the fight. To be offered a six-figure sum in the super-bantamweight division is unheard of — the money I was offering was three times anything Quigg has earned before. Maybe they think because he is WBA interim champion that puts him in a powerful position, but where's he going to go — fight Guillermo Rigondeaux for the World title? I don't think so.”

Quite.

For now, though, the move means that fans can forget about a Quigg-Frampton showdown, yet another U.K. fight that attracted a lot of talk but is unlikely to take place within the next year or two.

Indeed, given British boxing’s history and the nature of the sport in general, they will probably meet many years down the line when past their primes and out of the title picture, and at a higher weight to boot. So that’s something for the fans to look forward to in the distant future.

Haha. Well, when Carl Frampton was with Matchroom and Quigg was with Frank Warren, of course Hearn would say that the latter was a step or two behind his charge. I bet you he's kicking himself now. Somehow, if Amir…